“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.”
KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) is used in many Design, Leadership and Life experiences and applications.
The underlying idea is to —> Keep it Simple and Straightforward.
The purpose of any experience (Design, Leadership or Life) should be to provide the simplest, humane (empathetic) and the most desirable people experience. It applies to a 6th grader and also to someone who is doing their PhD. It applies to your car mechanic as well as to someone who is building spaceships for astronauts.
Simplicity is one of the most deceptive concepts, because simplicity takes work, simplicity is far from simple.
→ Simplicity is DESIGN.
→ Simplicity is LEADERSHIP.
→ Simplicity is LIFE.
“Fools ignore complexity. Pragmatists suffer it. Some can avoid it. Geniuses remove it.”
Simplicity is DESIGN.
That’s been one of my mantras – focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains. — Steve Jobs
Design is both an ideology and a process, concerned with solving complex problems in a highly user-centric way.
Design is extremely human-centric. It focuses on humans first, seeking to understand their needs and come up with effective SIMPLE solutions to meet those needs. Everything that surrounds us — the places we LIVE, WORK and PLAY in has been designed by someone.
Design is a generator of experiences-to-live, whether through consumer products, urbanization or digital world. It applies to shopping online, trying out wardrobes, check-in to a hotel or hospital, or passing through the airport security. It applies to developing mobile applications that are easy to understand and use by the developers and end-users alike. It applies to fighter planes that could be repaired in a field with some basic mechanic’s training and tools. It means building systems with lesser parts and, most importantly, fewer interconnected parts. It means products and applications that weren’t simple and easy to understand would quickly become obsolete and worthless in real-life pragmatic situations.
The products or processes that we design need to be kept as simple as possible because that will make them more effective and easier to use. From an engineering and design point of view, imperfect product due to inevitable limitations in design is not a failure. The finality of the design process is not to produce perfect products, but to produce experiences.
Design is an evolution. Design is a journey. Design is an impact and consequence. And FAILURE integrates Design.
Effect of ‘Design’ is an ‘Experience’ to Live.
Simplicity is LEADERSHIP.
Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity. — Charles Mingus
Philosophy of Leadership and Management has not changed overs centuries though the world has evolved. Leadership and organization management is still locked between old age ‘Hard’ and ‘Soft’ practices with ‘lasagna’ layers that don’t work in tandem. Hard structures, processes, KPIs and metrics are enforced to manage Soft humane interpersonal relationships, feelings and behaviors.
Outcome —> People Productivity & People Engagement suffers.
We work in increasingly uncertain environments and under uncertain conditions. Failures are more common than successes. Today’s Leaders need to re-imagine and re-design organizations to manage, mitigate, and learn from failures.
Leadership is the ability to influence, to get the act together, to provide direction and instill confidence in your workforce. Leadership is about simplifying the problem and making it easy to visualize, traverse and implement change. By simplifying and communicating complex organizational vision, strategies, changes and objectives, makes it accessible to the entire organization which in turn enables the entire organization to embrace them. The easier something is to understand, the more likely it is to be adopted and engaged with.
It takes great insight, know-how, experience and intellect to understand the complexity of many business issues. But it is possible to breakdown the problem into essential parts to allow a pragmatic, simple solution to emerge. Great leaders have the ability to keep their messages simple, articulate problems with clarity and work with the teams collectively and with confidence to find workable solutions.
Simplicity is not something you find or something you do; simplicity is a way of thinking and it takes discipline.
THINK Simple. KEEP Simple. PLAY Simple. —> Leading with Simplicity is SMART LEADERSHIP and a way to defeat complexity.
Simplicity is LIFE.
I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures. — Lao Tzu
Simplicity is a Way of Life.
The Japanese tradition of WABI-SABI is an age-old concept that offers an inspirational way to look at life. It‘s a philosophy that focuses on finding beauty in imperfection and authenticity.
In today's Japan, the meaning of ‘wabi-sabi’ is condensed to "wisdom in natural simplicity".
‘Life of Simplicity’ is about simplifying the complex, touching the common man, promoting happiness and eliminating suffering, thus leading to a progressive and prosperous one global world. It changes our way of living, of looking at it, moving in it and behaving in it. It's a mental paradigm shift that encompasses trade-offs of choices and the learning to let go. Life of Simplicity is a pursuit of self-knowledge and self-control, that enables us to understand who we truly are and our purpose in life.
Remember that simplicity is a process, not a destination. There is no final destination at the end of this road. No matter how much we plan, we can never predict what the future will ring. Learn to let go and earn to live in the moment. Cultivate GRATITUDE and appreciation to transform your life into the richest of human experiences. And those fulfilling experiences multiply if you — HELP SOMEONE ELSE.
Here I list six human-centered rules of engagement to realize SIMPLE Design, Leadership and Life, and to make a difference:
Rule #1 → UNDERSTAND what people do and why people act the way they act.
Rule #2 → REINFORCE integrators & remove layers to provision integrity and respect.
Rule #3 → EMPOWER to distribute power & establish trust, transparency and accountability.
Rule #4 → EXPERIMENT to encourage learning by doing and failing.
Rule #5 → STRENGTHEN reciprocity to encourage teamwork and to get rid of dysfunction.
Rule #6 → REWARD the value of collaboration. We all fail if we — fail to help or ask for help.
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”